Tips on finding inventory at estate sales, flea markets, and online auctions.
The dealers who consistently walk away with the best inventory aren't lucky — they've built a system for getting to the good stuff first.
The best flea market finds never make it to a table — they're sold out of the back of a truck to the dealer who showed up first, for years.
Online auctions have opened up sourcing beyond geography, but the dealers losing money on them are almost always losing it in the same two places.
Skipping the estate sale company and dealing directly with grieving families can yield the best inventory of your career, if you handle it correctly.
The dealers who consistently get first calls on the good lots aren't the highest bidders, they're the ones the specialists actually trust to deal fairly.
Reality TV made storage unit auctions a spectacle, and turned them into a far tougher, more crowded market for the professionals who buy there seriously.
A container of French provincial furniture can transform a shop's inventory, but only if the dealer understands customs, currency, and authentication risk first.